AI Leadership & Project Management

A Masterclass in Leading Successful AI Implementations

Author

Dr. Michael Borck

Welcome

  • “Today isn’t about theory - it’s about practice”
  • “You’ll work hard, think critically, make difficult decisions”

Today’s Journey

Timeline for the Day:

  • 9:00-10:30am → Foundations & Frameworks
  • 10:30-11:00am → Morning Tea
  • 11:00-12:30pm → Stakeholder Management & Project Scoping
  • 12:30-1:15pm → Lunch & Networking
  • 1:15-2:30pm → Crisis Management in Action
  • 2:30-3:00pm → Afternoon Tea
  • 3:00-4:00pm → Strategic Decisions: Scale or Kill
  • 4:00-4:30pm → Personal Action Planning & Framework Synthesis
  • “This is a full, intense day but incredibly rewarding”
  • “You’ll leave with practical skills, not just notes”
  • “Every exercise builds on previous learning”

Learning Outcomes

You will: - Design • Manage • Navigate • Decide • Apply

  • “These aren’t just academic goals”
  • “By end of today: Design AI projects with appropriate scope and success metrics”
  • “Manage diverse stakeholders effectively in AI initiatives”
  • “Navigate ethical dilemmas and value-based decision making”
  • “Make informed scale/pivot/kill decisions for AI pilots”
  • “Apply crisis management frameworks to real AI project challenges”
  • “You’ll actually PRACTICE each of these today”
  • “You’ll leave with tools you can use Monday morning”

Lecture vs. Practice

Lecture → Decision-making Notes → Action Passive → Active Theory → Muscle Memory

  • “Today you’ll experience what AI project leadership FEELS like”
  • “The crises you’ll face are based on real projects”
  • “Some of you will feel uncomfortable - that’s where learning happens”

The Reality of AI Projects

The Brutal Truth About AI Projects. 80% of AI projects fail to deliver value

Source: Gartner, 2023

  • “Let that sink in - 4 out of 5 AI projects fail”
  • “Technical Issues: 20% - Algorithm doesn’t work, Data quality problems, Infrastructure failures”
  • “People & Organisational Issues: 80% - Stakeholder resistance, Unclear objectives, Poor change management, Ethical oversights, Wrong metrics, Scope creep”
  • “Not because technology doesn’t work…”
  • “AI project leadership is NOT primarily about technology”
  • “It’s about people, politics, and change”
  • “That’s what we’re focusing on today”

Real AI Project Failures

🏥 Healthcare: Perfect algorithm, clinicians didn’t trust it

🏪 Retail: Worked great, destroyed jobs and PR

💰 Banking: Solved the problem, discriminated against people

  • “These are real projects (anonymised)”
  • “Healthcare: $5M investment, 2-year development, 95% accuracy in lab testing. Clinicians refused to use it. Forgot about user adoption.”
  • “Retail: Reduced stockouts by 40% (success!). Automated away jobs, union backlash, PR disaster. Didn’t manage people impact.”
  • “Banking: Improved processing speed by 70%. Discriminated against protected groups. Ethical oversight missing.”
  • “All had solid technology”
  • “All failed because of people and process issues”
  • “Today you’ll practice navigating exactly these challenges”

Traditional vs. AI Projects

Two Different Journeys

Traditional: Known → Linear → Clear → Predictable → Technical risk AI: Emergent → Iterative → Evolving → Experimental → Organisational risk

  • “Many of you have led successful traditional projects”
  • “AI projects require DIFFERENT skills - not better or worse, different”
  • “Traditional: Requirements known upfront, linear progression, success criteria clear, predictable timeline, technical risk primary, implementation focus, Gantt charts rule”
  • “AI: Requirements emerge through experimentation, iterative/hypothesis-driven, success criteria evolve, we’ll know more after pilot, organisational risk dominant, learning & adaptation focus, experiments rule”
  • “Today we focus on what’s unique about AI leadership”

The AI Project Lifecycle

  • “The journey: Ideation → Scoping → Pilot → Evaluation → Decision → Scale/Pivot/Kill (then loop back)”
  • “Most organisations rush through Scoping - that’s where you design for success”
  • “Most fail at Evaluation - they don’t measure the right things”
  • “Most struggle with Kill decision - sunk cost fallacy is powerful”
  • “Today you’ll practice the hardest parts: Scoping, Crisis Management, and Scale/Kill decisions”

Core Framework

Humans in the Loop

AI ≠ Replace Humans AI = Humans + Technology Working Together

Three Pillars: - Stakeholder Orchestration - Change Navigation - Ethical Leadership

  • “This is the core principle: AI projects aren’t about replacing humans with technology”
  • “They’re about designing new ways for humans and AI to work together”
  • “This framework will guide us through every exercise today”
  • “These three pillars aren’t fluffy - they’re mission-critical”
  • “These pillars will help you navigate every challenge you face”
  • “Stakeholder Orchestration: Align diverse interests and motivations”
  • “Change Navigation: Guide organisations through AI transformation”
  • “Ethical Leadership: Make values-based decisions under uncertainty”

Meet RetailFlow

50 stores • $150M revenue • 2,000 people • Australia

Problem: Customer satisfaction 78% → 68%, 26-hour response times

Solution: AI chatbot pilot (2 weeks live)

Your Role: AI Project Manager

  • “This is a realistic but fictional company”
  • “We’ll use RetailFlow for all exercises today”
  • “You are the AI Project Manager”
  • “The chatbot pilot launched 2 weeks ago”
  • “It’s the mix of physical retail and e-commerce that makes this complex”
  • “Customer satisfaction is dropping, response times are terrible, competition is moving faster”
  • “They’ve decided to try AI as the solution”
  • “You’re about to face the reality of AI project leadership…”

Exercise: Stakeholder Speed Dating

Objective: Experience AI project stakeholder perspectives firsthand

What you’ll do:

  1. Each person receives a role card (one of 6 stakeholders)
  2. Read your role card carefully
  3. Have 5-minute conversations with different stakeholders
  4. Stay in character - embrace their fears and motivations
  5. Take notes in your workbook

Materials: Role cards will be distributed now

  • Distribute role cards (one per person, mixed across tables)
  • Take a few minutes to read role cards
  • Explain: “You’ll rotate conversations every 5 minutes when I ring the bell”
  • “Stay in character - experience their perspective, not your own”
  • Set timer, ring bell every 5 minutes for rotations

Exercise: Pilot Scoping Challenge

Objective: Design a well-scoped AI pilot for RetailFlow

The Challenge: RetailFlow’s customer service is broken (26-hour response times, 68% satisfaction)

Your Task:

  1. Review the RetailFlow case study in your packet
  2. Complete the Pilot Scoping Worksheet as a group
  3. Define: Scope, metrics, risks, budget, timeline
  4. Make it “Goldilocks perfect” - not too big, not too small

Then… a surprise constraint will change everything

  • “All materials are in your participant packet”
  • “Turn to the Pilot Scoping section”
  • “You have 30 minutes to complete the worksheet”
  • “One person should be scribe, but everyone contributes”
  • Set 30-minute timer
  • After 20 minutes: Give 10-minute warning
  • After 30 minutes: Distribute ONE random constraint card per group
  • “You now have 10 minutes to adapt your plan based on this constraint”

Exercise: Crisis Management Simulation

  • “This is the centerpiece of the day”
  • “The Scenario: You’re 2 months into the RetailFlow chatbot pilot. Week 2 of live deployment.”
  • “You will face 4 crises, each one different”
  • “Crisis 1: Data Quality Disaster - Technical failure, AI giving wrong answers”
  • “Crisis 2: Staff Resistance - People problem, team actively sabotaging”
  • “Crisis 3: Executive Pressure - Leadership challenge, sponsor demands acceleration”
  • “Crisis 4: Ethical Dilemma - Values decision, AI works but discriminates”
  • “Work through each crisis sequentially in your groups”
  • “You’ll experience what AI project crises FEEL like”
  • “Some involve role-plays with me - I’ll come to your table”
  • “Diagnose, decide, communicate - under time pressure”
  • “Let’s begin with Crisis 1 - Data Quality Disaster”

Exercise: Scale or Kill Decisions

Three Cases

A: High ROI (but…) B: Destroyed morale C: Revenue up, satisfaction down

Your Call: SCALE • PIVOT • KILL

  • “Now you shift from tactical to strategic thinking”
  • “You’ll analyse three AI projects and make recommendations”
  • “Case A: Clear Success - inventory AI with 733% ROI (but is it straightforward?)”
  • “Case B: Clear Failure - scheduling AI that destroyed morale (but learn from it)”
  • “Case C: Ambiguous - pricing AI, good revenue but bad customer satisfaction (no perfect answer)”
  • “For each case, recommend: SCALE, PIVOT, or KILL”
  • “Defend your decision with evidence and reasoning”
  • “Use your Decision Framework reference sheet”
  • “You have 60 minutes total”

Personal Reflection

  • “This is the most important part of the day”
  • “You’ve experienced a lot - now make it personal”
  • “Think about YOUR projects, YOUR challenges, YOUR context”
  • “What’s the ONE thing you’ll do differently starting Monday?”
  • “This is required for CRL, so complete it thoughtfully”

Synthesis & Takeaways

Your Toolkit: Six Frameworks

  • Stakeholder Management

  • Project Scoping

  • Crisis Response

  • Strategic Decisions

  • Change Management

  • Ethical Leadership

  • “You’ve experienced all of these today”

  • “Stakeholder Management: Power-Interest Matrix, role perspective mapping, engagement strategies”

  • “Project Scoping: Goldilocks principle, success metric definition, risk mitigation planning”

  • “Crisis Response: Diagnose → Decide → Communicate → Document (technical vs. people vs. leadership vs. ethical)”

  • “Strategic Decisions: Scale/Pivot/Kill criteria, decision framework questions, risk assessment matrix”

  • “Change Management: Expect resistance, involve early, communicate constantly, change curve navigation”

  • “Ethical Leadership: Four key questions - Who benefits? What could go wrong? How do we know? When do we stop?”

  • “These aren’t just frameworks - they’re practical tools”

  • “Keep your reference sheet - use it on every AI project decision you face”

  • “The goal isn’t perfect decisions - it’s defensible decisions with clear reasoning”

Core Insights

  • People > Technology

  • Orchestration > Excellence

  • Flexibility > Plans

  • Ethics > Metrics

  • Kill > Scale (if needed)

  • “AI projects fail from people issues, not technology (80% vs 20%)”

  • “Stakeholder orchestration is more critical than technical excellence”

  • “No plan survives first contact with reality - flexibility matters”

  • “Ethical decisions aren’t optional - they’re leadership responsibilities”

  • “Killing bad projects is success, not failure”

  • “You experienced stakeholder resistance firsthand”

  • “You made tough decisions under pressure”

  • “You navigated ethical dilemmas with no perfect answers”

  • “You have muscle memory now, not just theory”

  • “Data-driven decisions are good, values-driven decisions are essential”

  • “The cost of being wrong about scaling >> cost of being wrong about killing”

  • “When in doubt, run another small experiment rather than scaling prematurely”

Your Action Plan

This Week: What will you do?

This Month: What will you change?

This Quarter: What will transform?

  • “The goal isn’t to overwhelm you with a huge to-do list”
  • “Pick ONE thing to do differently this week - and define why and what success looks like”
  • “Then think about what you’ll change this month”
  • “Then what will be different this quarter”
  • “Build momentum with small wins”
  • “Use the frameworks - they’re tools, not rules”

Start small Measure what matters Involve early Document everything

  • “Four principles as you go back to work”
  • “Start small - apply one framework at a time”
  • “Measure what matters - not just what’s easy to measure”
  • “Involve early - don’t wait for buy-in, co-create it”
  • “Document decisions - use the frameworks to justify your choices”

  • “This isn’t the end of your learning journey”
  • “It’s the beginning of applying these capabilities”
  • “Digital copies of all materials will be sent via email”
  • “Business Innovation Masterclass is the strategic counterpart to this course”
  • “The frameworks will evolve as AI technology evolves”
  • “Stay curious, stay humble, stay learning”

Apply what you learned. Lead with humans in the loop. Good luck with your AI projects!

Dr. Michael Borck michael.borck@curtin.edu.au

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